Hello Kitty Ruffle Cake

Happy 2nd Birthday Savannah!

Margarita Ruffle Cake

I've been wanting to make a ruffle cake for a long time. I stumbled across it online a while back then have seen several friends re-post the cake. I found a tutorial online from a blogger I love called iambaker here. I've also been wanting to make a margarita cake so I combined the two and had one exciting morning.

For the cake: I tried this at Williams Sonoma and couldn't wait to go home and make it myself. They used a yellow cake box mix and replaced the water with margarita mix. So simple and so yummy! I then struggled with frosting because I didn't have any limes and had already been to two grochery stores before 7:30 this morning. Who knew Fresh and Easy doesn't open until 8?! I used my basic vanilla frosting recipe (you can find the link in the recipe section of my blog) but replaced the milk with margarita mix and the vanilla with tequilla. It turned out pretty good. It needed a sour component still so I put a little lemon zest in because thats all I had. It has room for improvement, but it was very yummy considering!

Alright onto the decorations: I started out putting a thin layer of icing over the entire cake.

Then I piped back and forth with a Wilton #102 tip. I struggled to keep the lines straight but it got much better as I practiced more. I think my next try will turn out less tilted.

I still need to figure out the best way to continue the ruffles on the top of the cake.  It was a fun cake to make and I'll definitely make it again!

Coffee Cake

My mom and I received a thank-you basket from one of our buyers a few months ago. In this basket was an amazing array of Williams Sonoma products (they knew we love to cook) including several Barefoot Contessa Cake mixes. I've been trying them all out and this one is my favorite so far- Sour Cream Coffee Cake. The directions on the back of the box aren't really reliable but I made it through. I also made my own glaze, the packaged glaze had a lot of maple extract in it and I'm not a fan. I took the cake around the office during breakfast time last week and it was a huge hit!

Universal Studios

Chris and I took off yesterday to Universal Studios along with our friends Nik, Melissa and their 3 kiddos. I had never been before so they were all very excited to show me what I was missing.  I must admit: I had a great time! It's not Disneyland, but it's a very cool place.  We bought passes from Costco so we can go back another 4 times within a year.  I'm excited to go again and see the few things we missed.  Enjoy the photos from our trip!

Pet Photos

I recently bought a new camera. To get farmiliar/play with my new toy I took some pictures of the pets in my life. Enjoy!

Brown Butter Gnocchi and Sage

Last night Chris and I both had the night off (WOAH!) so we decided to cook dinner and finally watch the finale of Survivor on the DVR. I really can't believe we both avoided hearing who won for the past two weeks. Anywho... I was searching online for something yummy for dinner and came across this amazing sound gnocchi.  We both love brown butter and Chris is a huge fan of sage so it sounded perfect. It was so simple and DELICIOUS! I'm a little shocked neither of us tried to lick our plates. Here is the link to the recipe.
We didn't use chicken stock, it seemed like that was to be added if you used the squash like she suggested. We let the butter get hot before we put the sage in so it got a nice crisp on it.  Perfectly crisp!
Oh and for all you Survivor watchers...how awesome that Boston Rob finally won!?

Relay for Life 2011

Well some of you may know already because I'm so stinking excited but...Coldwell Banker's Relay for Life team raised $52,335 for the American Cancer Society.  Bakersfield made it to our $2,000,000 goal coming in at $2,000,401.71.  It's been such an honor being the captain of this team. It's an unexplainable, overwhelming feeling having cancer survivors and loved ones of those who lost their battle with cancer thanking me for what I'm doing.  I just can't wrap my head around what an amazing thing Bakersfield is doing in the fight against cancer.  We will find a cure.  I get chills and tears in my eyes just thinking about it all.  I stepped into very big shoes taking over the role as captain and I know I made countless mistakes along the way but I had the best support net, my team, to catch me and pick up the pieces along the way. I can't express how thankful I am for the amazing team we have.  Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.  We did it! Take a week or two to relax but don't get too comfy, we're starting early for 2012 Relay!